A Conversation with Professor Marcy Lascano

College of Liberal Arts

Please join us for a talk led Professor Marcy Lascano from University of Kansas, (Distinguished Visit) titled "Boys that play with watery bubbles or fling dust into each other’s eyes, or make a hobbyhorse of snow': Margaret Cavendish’s Critique of Early Modern Scientific Experimentalism” .

Margaret Cavendish seems to have been on the wrong side of history in her opposition to microscopes and telescopes. However, I will argue that Cavendish’s criticisms are principled, and that although she was skeptical of some experimental views, she was not opposed to all scientific endeavors. I will provide Cavendish’s criteria for good science. Finally, I will argue that Cavendish’s criticisms can be seen as feminist in nature.